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College Football Top 25 Polls: Arkansas Gets More Votes In AP, Fewer in Coaches After Loss To Texas A&M

We all know college football polls have rarely made sense, and this week isn't much different.

Carroll Washington's 4th quarter interception was one of many times Arkansas stopped the mighty A&M offense.
Carroll Washington's 4th quarter interception was one of many times Arkansas stopped the mighty A&M offense.
Tom Pennington

Arkansas is an unranked team that just took a unanimous top 10 team to overtime on a neutral field. Texas A&M possesses what is universally considered one of the most powerful offenses in the nation, and Arkansas held them to 28 points in regulation - just 14 points in the middle 56 or so minutes of game time.

Not only is Arkansas still well outside the top 25, the Hogs actually lost more than two-thirds of their votes in the Coaches Poll (Arkansas did gain nine votes in the AP Poll - up to 18).

I know the polls are essentially meaningless now from the standpoint of crowning a national champion, the voters actually watch few games during the day, and the polls are really only still done for reasons of tradition and click-bait, but they're still the standard of respect in the college football world. The perception of a team ranked 20-25 compared to an unranked team can be significant.

Through the first five weeks of the season, I think Arkansas' resume warrants more consideration. For instance, Oklahoma State is ranked basically just because they played Florida State close in Week 1. Their next best win is beating Texas Tech at home by 10. Arkansas also played a good team close on a neutral field, but beat Texas Tech in Lubbock by 21. Missouri lost at home to Indiana. TCU claimed the last spot in both polls by beating Samford, Minnesota, and coachless SMU. South Carolina has now lost twice at home (looking vastly worse vs A&M than Arkansas), looked unimpressive in wins, and they're the second team out of the poll receiving far more votes than the Razorbacks.

But until Arkansas breaks through and beats somebody more respectable than Texas Tech, voters apparently will still look at Arkansas with the taste of 2012 and 2013 in their mouths. The Hogs certainly have more than their share of opportunities over the next two months to do that.

AP Coaches Sagarin
1 Florida State Alabama Alabama
2 Oregon Florida State Oklahoma
3 Alabama Oklahoma Oregon
4 Oklahoma Oregon Auburn
5 Auburn Auburn Texas A&M
6 Texas A&M Baylor UCLA
7 Baylor Texas A&M Georgia
8 UCLA Notre Dame Baylor
9 Notre Dame UCLA Florida State
10 Michigan State Michigan State Stanford
11 Ole Miss Ole Miss Michigan State
12 Mississippi State Georgia Notre Dame
13 Georgia Stanford LSU
14 Stanford Mississippi State USC
15 LSU LSU Ole Miss
16 USC Wisconsin Wisconsin
17 Wisconsin Nebraska Ohio State
18 BYU Ohio State Kansas State
19 Nebraska BYU Florida
20 Ohio State USC Clemson
21 Oklahoma State East Carolina Oklahoma State
22 East Carolina Kansas State South Carolina
23 Kansas State Oklahoma State BYU
24 Missouri Arizona State Mississippi State
25 TCU TCU Texas